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London Tipton
London Leah Tipton is the main female character in Disney's Suite Life series which consists of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and its spin-off The Suite Life on Deck. The character is the series most critically acclaimed character and has garnered several mixed responses from critics. The character is portrayed by Brenda Song, who was offered the starring female role without an audition. Song describes the character as being complex and has stated London Tipton is her fantasy character. The character is presented as a privileged girl with many underlying layers. She is the daughter of Wilfred Tipton, the owner of the Tipton Hotel chain and the S.S. Tipton. Her name is a somewhat thinly-veiled parody of the real-life hotel heiress, Paris Hilton. Biography ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' London is a parody of the American socialite Paris Hilton. Although her father is never seen (usually never more than an arm behind his security force, which stands on all sides), he is frequently mentioned. London is an air headed heiress, and leads a wild girl fabulous life as heiress of the Tipton Estate. She is a spoiled, rich, and full-of-herself teenager with her own private suite at the Tipton Hotel in Boston, complete with floors full of closets (each with their own obsequious talking mirror), and a kitchen which takes up most of the floor. Her best friend is Maddie Fitzpatrick whom London often tries to bribe with money and other valuables. Shes also very good friends with Zack and Cody. Though London can often be seen as a superficial snob who disrespects lower-class people, she does make exceptions for those who she really cares about and has been shown to be somewhat loyal to her friends. She loves fashion, and states that she has been wearing designer outfits since she was a baby, and usually never wears the same outfit twice. She has a Pomeranian named Ivana Tipton who is treated like royalty. Since London doesn't have a nanny, or any adult to look out for her, she often looks to the Tipton employees for help and or guidance. She dislikes her step-moms and talks to Mr. Moseby and Maddie and sometimes, Carey about her problems. When happy, London tends to clap her hands repeatedly and jump up and down while saying her catchphrase, "Yay me!" Though it seems like London may lead the ultimate rich-girl life, her childhood was far less than perfect. London has attended several private schools, but shows very little effort in her school work. She transferred to the same private school as Maddie in the episode Forever Plaid, due to poor attendance at her old school ("And they even expect me to go on Fridays!"). In the episode First Day of High School, London transfers to Zack and Cody's public school, due to being expelled from all of the private schools she had previously attended. London's worst subject in school would probably be language arts, since she doesn't like reading and often claims to have trouble with the alphabet. As stated earlier, London is not very intelligent. She is confused with many things, and is tricked by many characters such as Maddie and Nia. London, apparently, has some belief in certain mythological aspects; Maddie and Esteban once tricked her into doing many stupid things by changing her horoscope. Though, annoyed by some characters, London being gullible is found to be quite an advantage in difficult situations. It is also revealed in one episode that she must think before doing the smallest everyday actions. For example, she was walking through the lobby while thinking "left, right, blink, breathe" in the episode Super Twins (although this may be Zack's dream). Having such a glamorous lifestyle, London also has trouble with anything that involves hard work, which is something her dad encourages her to do sometimes (much to the dismay of London), usually because of her frivolous money spending. London's poor ability is often caused by her lack of effort and understanding, as it's normally easy for her to get her own way in life. London may also have trouble understanding the difference between right and wrong, as it usually has to do with what can or can't do morally. Though sometimes she'll put her ego aside, and show she can do more than she's given credit for, which shows her to being occasionally smart and/or selfless. Though curiously, her stupidity seems to have increased during Season 3. London has her own web-show, ever since the episode Tiptonline. The original producer of "Yay Me, Starring London Tipton" was Cody Martin. After Cody quit, due to crazy things London made him do on set, London's friend Chelsea Brimmer became the producer, but Chelsea left after one webshow because she was a horrible producer and the fans demanded they bring Cody back. London then realized how she needed Cody and apologized to him on the air. After Cody saw the show, he rushed to London's suite in the middle of the show and stated that he would return. However, whenever Cody was unavailable, Maddie often filled in as a substitute, and soon became the official producer. London continues to do her webshow on the S.S. Tipton, with Woody Fink as her producer. She does not see her parents often, only occasionally, but she often talks to them on the telephone. London says that Mr. Moseby appears more times in her family’s photo-albums than Mr. Tipton or any of his ex-wives. Her parents cannot stand each other, apparently, since Mr. Moseby put them not only in different rooms when they stayed at the hotel, but different wings. London also likes to work out and has been shown to be very strong in several episodes. London prefers corn with butter and is allergic to lobster. However, in the episode where London loses all her money, she and Maddie go to a fancy restaurant for "lobster dipped in butter". and is London is also tone deaf, but still likes to sing. ''The Suite Life on Deck'' London journeys onto the S.S. Tipton with the belief that she is on a vacation, until she is informed otherwise by Mr. Moseby that it is for her to attend Seven Seas High (or as London calls it "stupid sea school") and have the opportunity to learn how to live in the real world. London bitterly sees this as more as a punishment than an opportunity. When London finds out later that she has to share a cabins, she bribes her cabin-mate, Padma, with jewelery to leave in The Suite Life on Deck so she can have her own cabin. At the end of the episode, Bailey Pickett is revealed to be a girl, which prompts her to be assigned in London's half-vacant cabin. This pushes a stubborn London to escape the S.S. Tipton via helicopter to Parrot Island. Therefore, in the following episode, the ship makes a special journey to the island to rescue her, as she has been imprisoned because Tipton Industries cut down Parrot Island's trees, which made the native parrots immigrate to a seal island. Later, she writes a check for 10 million to rehabilitate the island, and resumes residence on S.S. Tipton. At the school, London is treated like a regular student. In order to skid her way through school, London has often tried to bribe the teacher (such as handing in a blank report with money in it). However, she has been seen putting a little more effort into her school work, and even states in the episode "Sea Monster Mash" that she enjoys having a feeling of accomplishment. London is also slightly smarter than what she was in The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, as seen in multiple episodes (though she still retains the ditzy demeanor). Also despite her frequent attempts to escape the S.S. Tipton so she can resume her normal free life, London has found ways to adapt on the ship. Since London now has limited closet space in her cabin, it is mentioned that most of her clothes are carried by a submarine that follows the ship. London quickly establishes a tenuous friendship with Bailey. In Broke N' Yo-Yo, she moves Bailey to a cramped loft near the ceiling of the cabin, and Bailey retaliates by faking an attack of fictional "Sea Snarks", but eventually comes clean. London later reunites with Ivana, flown in by helicopter in The Kidney of the Sea, and Cody referees an intelligence competition between her dog and Bailey's pet, Porkers but in the end Ivana and Porkers draw. London occasionally mistreats Bailey often, such as humiliating her using her webshow, "Yay Me" on a segment called "Boo You". Despite this, London means well as a friend and Bailey is willing to forgive. Although London admits that she doesn't "do things for other people", she has often attempted to do many generous things, with unfortunate results. In "Mom and Dad On Deck", she hoped to find Moseby the perfect gift for his birthday, but resulted into her annoyingly following him everywhere in order to find out what he likes. She even tried to nurse Moseby after he got injured slipping on the sky deck, but only ends up making him feel crowded. In the same episode, it is revealed that it takes her half-an-hour to read 1 page in even the simplest books (she reads 'The Poky Little Princess' to Moseby, and her problem is revealed). In the season two episode "Smarticle Particles", Bailey tricks London into doing well in school by giving her a "smart perfume", to which London responds to as planned. However, London finds out later that the perfume is fake, and is upset that her 'smarticles' weren't real. Bailey then cheers her up with a "smart lipstick", which London happily uses. This shows that London is actually very bright but lacks enough confidence to believe so. In "Family Thais", the gang travels to Thailand, where London meets her grandmother. In Lost at Sea London pretends to go insane and believe that she's on an island resort in order not to have to do any work. After they finally escape the island in a balloon made out of her clothes and fly back to the Tipton, she reveals her deception making Cody and Bailey realize she's smarter than she appears and pretends. Family * Yolanda (unseen) one of London's former stepsisters. In Poor Little Rich Girl, London called her on her cell phone, for a place to sleep, due to London's poverty. Yolanda refused, because London never helped her. London refers to her as 'sis'. *'Khun Yai' (played by Elizabeth Sung) is London's grandmother and Mrs. Tipton's mother from Thailand. London visits her in the On Deck episode Family Thais, where London is surprized to find out that her grandmother is not only not rich, but is a poor rice farmer. London tries to connect with her grandmother by giving Khun Yai a makeover and redesiging her hut with expensive furniture and appliences. However, Khun Yai is uncomfortable with all the luxuries, which confuses London. After talking with Bailey, London learns to accept her grandmother's lifestyle and the two share a close bond unlike any relationship London has with the rest of her family. Khun Yai also has a pet elephant who she can understand well, simulair to London's relationship with Ivana. Father * Wilfred Tipton (voiced by Bob Joles) - The owner of the Tipton hotel and father to London. His face has never been shown. He is surrounded by his bodyguards, and usually only his hand is shown. In "Not so Suite 16", his body and legs were shown, but his face was hidden by a large birthday present. It is not clear how he became the owner of the Tipton, because London mentions many times that her father bought the hotel. However, in a few episodes, it is said that Tipton's ancestors owned the hotel first before he did. This may yet be another example of London's ignorance, or a continuity error or that the Tiptons have not owned it for some time and he bought it back. In the episode "Rock Star in the House", Wilfred is very strict about London's behavior when it comes to celebrities. Wifred also has great concern for London's growing and well-being, and often supports better work-ethic in school. He also hopes for her to learn the proper value of money; he often theatens to have her dis-inherited. His hand was once seen in the episode "Lip Synchin' in the Rain", in which he was wearing a diamond ring. Wilfred Tipton has a history of marrying much younger women without London's consent, most of whom do not last long. The warranty of Wilfred's wedding gifts (given by Mr. Moseby) lasted longer than the marriages. Mothers * Mrs. Tipton (unseen) London's mother and Mr. Tipton's first ex-wife. Divorced from Mr. Tipton, she visited London's sweet sixteen party but remained unseen. According to London, her mother never stays in one place long, seeming to disappear off the face of the Earth. * Stepmother 1 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's second ex-wife. She thought she and Mr. Tipton would be together for a long time. * Stepmother 2 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's third ex-wife. She believed she and Mr. Tipton were sole mates. * Stepmother 3 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's fourth ex-wife. She was with Mr. Tipton for the shortest time. She neglected London by refering to her as "that kid" (London refers to her as "that woman"). * Stepmother 4 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's fifth ex-wife. * Brandi (Stepmother 5) (played by T Lopez) Brandi was London's fifth stepmother and Wilfred's sixth wife seen in What the Hey. She comes to visit London, but they do not get along well. Over the course of the episode they become friendlier to each other. Brandi, out of all the stepmothers, has been shown to have the most concern for London. Mr. Tipton is no longer married to Brandi. In 'Mr. Tipton Comes To Visit' it is suggested that he has remarried when London says "All 12 of Daddy's wedding cakes have been that flavor (German Chocolate)". * Stepmother 6 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's seventh ex-wife. * Stepmother 7 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's eighth ex-wife. * Stepmother 8 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's ninth ex-wife. * Stepmother 9 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's tenth ex-wife. * Stepmother 10 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's eleventh ex-wife. * Stepmother 11 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's twelfth ex-wife. London refers to her as "Mommy #12". * Stepmother 12 (unseen) Mr. Tipton's thirteenth ex-wife. London refers to her as "Mommy #13" * Karina (Stepmother 13) Mr. Tipton's fourteenth wife. She appears in the episode Ala-ka-scram! as Armando the magician's assistant. London and Armando start dating, so London gets jealous of Karina and tells her dad to "get rid of her", but he marries her instead. Relationships *'Brenden' (Tahj Mowry) - One of London's first boyfriends was Brenden, who appeared in Scary Movie. Brenden does not date wealthy girls and despises wealthy families, therefore London lies about being a Tipton and tells Brenden she is a poor Tipton Hotel employee. In the end, Brenden finds out London is lying and asks her why. When she tells him that she liked him and he hated rich people. Brenden then said that he doesn't like rich people when they're mean. And he likes London because she's nice. *'Chelsea Brimmer' (Brittany Curran)) is one of London's wealthy friends. She is just as air-headed as London. First seen in Miniature Golf, and a guest star and former producer on London's web-show, Yay Me. She visited London on the S.S. Tipton in the episode, Flowers and Chocolate, of The Suite Life on Deck. *'Tiffany('Alexa Nikolas')' another one of London's friends. She is shallow, air-headed, and diet-prone. First seen in Miniature Golf. *'Lance Fishman' (Aaron Musicant), a marine-obsessed life-guard at the Tipton, was Maddie and London's ex-boyfriend. In the third season of the series, in the episode Sink or Swim, London had a crush on Lance immediately as he taught her to swim; later, they kiss and start to date. In the episode Who's The Boss?, London was ashamed of Lance, as he did not know how to behave in high society. Later, however, they accepted each other the way they were. Despite this, they broke up in the episode The Arwin That Came to Dinner because Lance felt that they didn't have much in common and he liked another girl. *'Kyle' (Daniel Booko) is seen in the episode "Maddie Checks In". Kyle is the friend of Jason who Maddie likes. They come from rich families. *'Joe' is seen in Volley Dad, she had a crush on him. She was in love with him until she saw Maddie kissing him. *'Todd St. Mark' (Ben Ziff) is the son of the owner of the rival hotel to the Tipton. He and London have a Romeo and Juliet-like relationship as their fathers hate each other and forbid them from seeing each other. Ilsa, the St. Mark Hotel Manager, forbids them from seeing each other, and has a close eye on them. They met at a dental convention that was held at the Tipton (Todd had to sneak out in order to go as he wished to be a dentist). Maddie tried to help them meet because she was sure that their love was deep and real. She tried to get them to meet at the masquerade ball but he was in a mask so they had to go through all the guys at the ball. London found him after Zack and Cody started a pie fight. Later he told London that his dad offered to pay for dental school in Europe, but turned him down. London tells him that he shouldn't give up his dream for her, urges him to go and he gives London her first kiss. *'Ivana' is London's pomeranian dog, who is treated like royalty. it is seen in an episode that she can contact London with her cellphone. *'Trevor' (Zac Efron) is a boy who London dated in the episode, "Odd Couples". However, he only dated her because he thought she was just as smart as him. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that London wasn't smart and was being coached by Maddie. Eventually, Trevor ended up with Maddie. Trevor was portrayed by Zac Efron. * The twins are two boys who only appeared in one episode as part of the twin convention. London and Maddie meet the "cute one" (Jake Abel) and evidently have a crush on. They both compete for his affections up until he introduces his geeky twin (portrayed by Scott Halberstadt) in which Maddie goes on a date with who is revealed to like London. * Portia Tanenbaum (unseen) is a friend of London's who's mentioned many times. She has her own webshow similar to London and gave to charity on one occasion. They usually go on shopping trips to Paris. In the episode Cody Goes to Camp, London says that Portia's going to teach her how to drive. Mr. Moseby nixes this by mentioning that Portia drove her father's yacht into piers 10, 11 and 12. London defends this saying, "She was putting on sunscreen." When London searches up 'Portia Tanenbaum' on the Internet, Cody tells London that she has more results than London. Then London decides to start her own webshow called Yay- Me! starring London Tipton! * Francesca Grubman (seen in episode Health and Fitness) is one of London's rich friends. She attends London's junior fashion show in the episode Health and Fitness, in this episode she also insults Maddie and (ironically) London. Francesca is portrayed by Georgina Rosso the older sister of Rebecca and Camilla Rosso, the twins that portray Jessica and Janice. * Maddie Fitzpatrick is London's best friend and always hanging out with each other. They are shown to have a very close bond, yet London is still not above putting down Maddie's taste in clothes and hair. London often refers to Maddie as 'Hideous Hair Maddie', which Maddie doesn't enjoy. * Zack and Cody Martin London maintains a close friendship with the twins. Cody is her webcaster and often helps her with difficult homework assignments, and London often gets mixed up in Zack's various schemes. *'Marion Moesby' is almost like a second parent to London. He often gives London support and good advice, and it has been mentioned that he helped London out since she was a child. As London states, he is in their family album more than her dad or any of his ex-wives. *'Nia Moseby' is Moseby's niece and Maddie's replacement at the Tipton during Season 3. She and London have an interesting friendship, in which Nia takes advantage of London's wealth and sometimes gets her involved in a few of her schemes, which London never seems to notice. London refers to her as "Cranky Maddie". * Lizzie Ashcroft was mentioned in one episode, when London was supposed to be hanging out with her. She is thought to be London's friend. Reception The show's breakout character, London Tipton has garnered much media recognition. Song became a household name after The Suite Life of Zack and Cody debuted in 2005. In an April 2009 andPOP.com article, they stated that as London Tipton "Song is the One to Steal the Spotlight" on the Disney Channel. They said: "If you ever watched an episode of ‘The Suite Life with Zack & Cody’ you should realize that show is watchable because of one character: London Tipton. Brenda plays the ditzy spoiled hotel heiress London (yup, an allusion to Paris Hilton) and, if I could say so myself, she does quite an excellent job doing so." While commenting on Song, MSN's 2009 cover story of the series states, "Song is one of the main reasons why the "Suite Life" franchise remains one of the most successful and highly rated series in the Disney stable." In a 2009 article, People magazine described the character as a "melodramatic high-seas diva." Allmovie described Song as a "charming and appealing personality, even when playing a shallow airhead".Craig Butler. Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior review. allmovie.com. Accessed 2008-12-12. In August 2006, Song won an Asian Excellence Award for "Outstanding Newcomer" because to her portrayal of London Tipton in the series.Asian Excellence Awards Nominees (December 6, 2005). internationalnetworks.com. Accessed 2008-12-11. Song was also named the "Queen of Disney" by Cosmogirl Magazine due to her major contributions on the Disney Channel including her leading role in the Suite Life series.Brenda Song re-launches her Official Site (January 17, 2009). The Insider. Accessed 2009-03-25. Song ranked ninth in Netscape's 2007 "Top 10 Beautiful Petites in Entertainment",Stacy Jenel Smith (2007). Top 10 Pretty Petites in Entertainment. Netscape. Accessed 2007-11-20. was voted one of AOL's "Top 20 Tween (and Teen) Television Stars",AOL's Top 20 Tween (and Teen) TV Stars. Aol.com. Accessed 2008-04-04. and Maxim ranked Song as the "Top Female Television Actress" in the winter of 2008 for her breakout performance as London Tipton in the Suite Life on Deck. Song was also ranked #45 in AIM's "Top 100 Celebs Under 25" list.100 Celebs Under 25. dashboard.aim.com. Accessed 2009-2-21. TV Guide listed Song in its 2008 list of "13 Hottest Young Stars to Watch" for her portrayal of London Tipton.TVGuide.com reveals tomorrow's tween stars today, overlooks mini Clay Aiken (July 2, 2008). MTV Buzzworthy. Accessed 2008-10-10. Zap2it named London Tipton the "Most Stylish" character of 2008 and one of "TV & Movie Shopaholics". Ivana Ivana Priscilla Veronica Tipton-Fitzpatrick is a character on the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck. She is voiced by Emma Stone. Ivana is the pet dog of The Tipton Hotel heiress London Tipton. Since London is often compared to Paris Hilton, Ivana is the counterpart of Tinkerbell. (She is named after Ivana Trump, one of Donald Trump's ex-wives.) She is a Pomeranian breed. She does not talk to the human characters, but communicates to Maddie's dog Scamp, who she will have puppies with and marry. However, Maddie Fitzpatrick herself treats Ivana as a real person in one episode when she takes care of Ivana for a day. In this case, she was given sub-titles and barked, unlike how she talks to Scamp (although Maddie reacted, it is unknown whether or not she was actually understood). There was a book about Ivana in one episode, called Ivana lives in a Hotel. London copied it from Maddie for a short story assignment and gets an 'A', and in the end it becomes apparent that Maddie spoke it from a book her mother used to read to her when she was little. Yay Me! Starring London Tipton London also has a fictional online webshow called Yay me, which is produced by Cody and by Maddie once.It won the golden "Netty", which is a parody of the Webbys. The lyrics of its theme song are: ::"London Tipton's really great, really great, really great. London Tipton's really great and deserves the opposite of hate, which is love!!" The theme song appears to be based on the song "London Bridge Is Falling Down". In order to gain more fame on the internet than Portia Tenenbaum, London had Cody produce a webshow starring her. The webshow later became the third most watched show on the internet, and apparently was more popular than Portia's. The show frequently stars London. Other people who have appeared on the webshow include Cody Martin, Bailey Pickett, Chris Brown, The Cheetah Girls, Carey Martin, Grandma Higgenbottom, Chelsea Brimmer, Maddie Fitzpatrick, Zack Martin, and Bigfoot. After arriving on the S.S Tipton, London carried on the webshow to embarrass Bailey as no guest stars can arrive on the S.S Tipton. One segment was called Boo You where London would have embarrassed Bailey in front of 37 million viewers. One of which was pulling her bed to the deck while she was wearing orthodontic headgear calling her a robot. The segment ended when Bailey realizes what London was doing and tells London she will never trust her again. External links *London Tipton's Official site *- A Suite Life Wiki Category:Characters